'Here's Johnny!' scene tops scary screen moment poll

Jack Nicholson’s crazed cry of “Here’s Johnny” as he axes his way through a door in pursuit of his wife has been named the most terrifying screen moment of all time.

The chilling scene in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining topped a poll for a Channel 4 special The 100 Scariest Moments screened last night.

It beat other movie horrors such as the spinning head in The Exorcist and the heart-stopping moment in Jaws when a severed head tumbles from a hole in a boat.

Viewers voted for their top hair-raising scene over a number of weeks this summer from a shortlist from film and TV drawn up by a panel of experts.

In the 1980 film The Shining, based on Stephen King’s novel, Nicholson is widely regarded to have given one of his most manic performances in a career packed with off-kilter roles.

He plays author Jack Torrance who is suffering from writer’s block and becomes caretaker of the empty Overlook Hotel – taking his wife and son with him – in the secluded mountains of Colorado in order to let his creative juices flow.

Jack, affected by both his inability to write and supernatural forces within the hotel, suffers a mental breakdown, prompting him to try to kill his wife.

Wild-eyed and grinning, he pokes his head through a door panel he has splintered with an axe to utter his notorious line “Here’s Johnny“, which he actually ad-libbed during filming.

Set designers had created a false door of thin wood fearing the actor would not be able to break it, but his powerful technique shattered it into tiny pieces so a real door was eventually used.

The scene pushed The Exorcist (1973) into second place for the stomach-churning moment when Linda Blair’s head spins round and she projectile vomits. The underwater head scene in Jaws (1975) was third.

The poll shows that old fashioned atmosphere, suspense and psychological tricks are largely more chilling than gruesome, realistic modern effects.

The most recent film in the top 10, 1999’s The Blair Witch Project at number five, relied on no sophisticated techniques – just a simple fear of the dark and isolation.

Six of the top 10 date back to the 70s including eighth-placed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), once regarded as a “video nasty” and effectively banned because for a decade and a half it had no certificate for home viewing.

The film – now remade and soon to be released – along with another “video nasty” The Evil Dead (1981), made it on to the list for their general feel as a whole rather than any specific scene.

One movie in the top 10, The Omen (1976) made it into the list for its chilling Oscar-winning music rather than the horror of any particular scene.

The highest ranked TV moment was from a 1993 episode of The X Files. A number of pop videos made it into the list including Aphex Twin’s disturbing Come To Daddy promo, Basement Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At and Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Doctor Who makes the list twice – once for its opening titles and music, the other for the evil villains the Daleks, who prompted countless youngsters to quake behind the sofa on Saturday evenings.

Ads also made it into the list including an Aids awareness public information film and the Metz campaign featuring the eerie “Judderman“.

The show’s producer Mark Murray said: “The top 10 is full of images which have now entered pop culture history.

“Anyone who has seen Jaws will never feel the same way again about dipping their toe into the ocean. And the winning ’Here’s Johnny’ scene from The Shining has become one of the most iconic screen images of all time, spoofed by other films and countless TV shows over the years – and to think, Jack Nicholson ad-libbed it on the day.

“But our list shows that it’s not only movies that have the ability to scare the life out of us. From the Daleks to Michael Jackson’s Thriller video to the creepy Judderman TV commercial, the small screen can be just as terrifying as the big one.”

The full 100 was counted down on Saturday and Sunday nights on Channel 4.

Here is the full list:

1. The Shining (1980) – Jack Nicholson chops through the door and shouts “Here’s Johnny!”

2. The Exorcist (1973) – Possessed girl’s rotating head and projectile vomit

3. Jaws (1975) – Severed head falls from boat

4. Alien (1979) – Alien bursts out of John Hurt’s chest

5. The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Heather Donahue in tears in the woods

6. Ring (1998) – Sadako crawls through the television

7. Halloween (1978) – Serial killer Michael’s face appears behind Jamie Lee Curtis in a house full of

dead bodies

8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – Leatherface’s general reign of terror

9. The Omen (1976) – Oscar-winning eerie music score

10. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) – First appearance of horror icon Freddy Krueger

11. Psycho (1960)

12. The Evil Dead (1981)

13. The X-Files (1993 episode)

14. Se7en (1995)

15. Friday The 13th (1980)

16. An American Werewolf In London (1981)

17. The Thing (1982)

18. 28 Days Later (2002)

19. Hellraiser (1987)

20. Don’t Look Now (1973)

21. Twin Peaks – the TV series (1990)

22. Scream (1996)

23. The Wizard Of Oz – the witch and flying monkeys (1939)

24. The League Of Gentlemen Christmas Special (2000)

25. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)

26. Jam (2000) – Chris Morris series

27. Carrie (1976)

28. The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

29. Poltergeist (1982)

30. Carry on Screaming (1966)

31. The Judderman – TV commercial for Metz (2000)

32. Coronation Street – Serial killer Richard Hillman (2003)

33. The Sixth Sense (1999)

34. The Wicker Man (1973)

35. Aphex Twin’s Come To Daddy pop video (1997)

36. Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966) Christopher Lee as Dracula

37. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – The Child Catcher (1968)

38. Nosferatu (1922)

39. Doctor Who – The Daleks (1963)

40. The Others (2001)

41. Ghostwatch – BBC Halloween drama (1992)

42. Salem’s Lot (1979)

43. The Birds (1963)

44. War Of The Worlds – Orson Welles’ radio play (1938)

45. The Vanishing (1988)

46. Final Destination (2000)

47. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956)

48. Les Diaboliques (1955)

49. AIDS – Don’t Die of Ignorance ad (1987)

50. Hammer House Of Horror – TV series (1980)

51. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

52. V (1984)

53. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

54. Dr Who opening titles & theme tune (1963)

55. Goodfellas (1990)

56. Marathon Man (1976)

57. EastEnders – Trevor menaces Little Mo (2001)

58. Candyman (1992)

59. Tales Of The Unexpected (1980)

60. Basement Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At music video (2002)

61. Blue Velvet (1986)

62. Suspiria (1977)

63. Armchair Thriller – faceless nun (1978)

64. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

65. Fatal Attraction (1987)

66. Theatre Of Blood (1973)

67. Misery (1990)

68. Shallow Grave (1994)

69. The Tripods (1984)

70. Quatermass and the Pit (1958)

71. Michael Jackson’s Thriller video (1983)

72. Frankenstein (1931)

73. Alice Cooper (his 1972 image and stage show)

74. The War Game (1965)

75. Lonely Water public information film (1973)

76. Children Of The Stones (1976)

77. The Twilight Zone (1963)

78. The Incredible Hulk (1977)

79. 1984 (1954)

80. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs – the wicked witch (1937)

81. Brookside – body under the patio (1995)

82. Captain Scarlet – the voice of the Mysterons (1967)

83. Whistle And I’ll Come To You (1968)

84. Cape Fear (1962)

85. Peeping Tom (1960)

86. Dead Of Night (1945)

87. Cracker – Robert Carlyle and the bomb (1994)

88. The Day Of The Triffids (1981)

89. Protect And Survive – public information film (1975)

90. Dracula (1931) First sight of vampire

91. Star Wars – Darth Vader (1977)

92. The Stone Tape (1973)

93. The Thing From Another World (1951)

94. Cat People (1942)

95. The Singing Ringing Tree (1957)

96. Prodigy’s Breathe music video (1996)

97. Roswell – alien footage (1995)

98. Doomwatch – Robert Powell attacked by rats (1970)

99. The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

100. Train Pulling Into A Station – Lumiere Bros (1895)